Well, perhaps not 40 years but 10 - 15 at least? Yes, the Democrats have that chance. Schumer predicts a 60 seat majority in the house, while I predict a 5 seat gain in the Senate. (hey!, I get a guess too!)

The presidency is Democratic for 8 years at least unless Obama is a total fool, the congress is a lock, and the SC needs only 3 real good picks. Total control of the government just like the old days is possible.

Then what? No, seriously, then what?

Will we stop the war on innocent women and children around the world? The war on innocent Americans who ingest a substance without government approval? Stop bankrupting the working class to build weapons to kill innocents?

Will the Democratic Party lead us into an era of live and let live where we allow other people to do things we would not do ourselves as long as no one is forced, coerced, or threatened? You know, leave others the hell alone to live their lives?

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/45270.html

Obama said that "no option is off the table" to the Israelis concerning Iran while in Israel the other day.

One man's translation, "I will gladly pile the bodies high in Iran, Obama told government officials in Israel, to protect your nuclear monopoly. I will obliterate homes, businesses, charities, mosques, whole towns and cities. I will kill babies, children, women, men, the sick and the elderly. I will tear them limb from limb, and laugh as they die in agony. I will create cripples in huge numbers. I will even unleash the radioactive lightning of my terrible swift sword, if the Iranians do not bow to my imperial will, and be subservient and vulnerable." (Lew Rockwell)

Of course, that is not what Obama said, but it is a reasonable translation if he means to bomb Iran for making electricity from nuclear power.

I just got notification that my electric bill will increase due to the proposed new nuclear plant that will be built somewhere in my state. Will we threatened with total destruction?

Why do American politicians have to beg favor of Israel? Let them move there if they intend to run for election to the Israeli Parliament.

Yes, WT is needed — if for nothing else, to declare "the American pubic" the inspired typo of the day. -- Frankly, my dear, ...

Who wrote that? It sounds like some dumb ass mistake that I would make!

But then, the "American Pubic" does sum up my take on the voting public nicely.

:-)

BTW, does anybody have a linky to WT's last post? Or remember the post topic? I must've missed it.-- bamage

http://letters.salon.com/
0148de89d8c3dad94e5de32fe1847a91/author/

GG,

Since you wrote that you had not been motivated to write today or yesterday, I thought I would mention the article below. He has a great point, where are trials by jury?

Perhaps you could add 3 cents worth?

-----------------------------------

http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2008-07-23.asp

Why No Trial by Jury at Gitmo?

by Jacob G. Hornberger

Seven years after the Bush administration declared its “war on terrorism,” the first trial of an accused terrorist is now underway at Guantanamo Bay. The Gitmo trial involves the new-fangled “judicial” system that the president and the Pentagon put into place after 9/11, without even the semblance of seeking a constitutional amendment. Keep in mind that this is their model of what an ideal judicial system is all about.

The first and foremost thing that one will notice about the Gitmo system is the group of people who are deciding the guilt or innocence of the accused, especially compared to the group of people doing the same thing in the federal judicial system our ancestors brought into existence with the Constitution.

In the judicial system that the Bill of Rights guarantees, the accused has the right to have regular people in the community, chosen at random, to decide his guilt or innocence.

The reason our ancestors expressly guaranteed trial by jury in the Bill of Rights was twofold: First, they understood that this right was essential to a free society and, two, they believed that the federal government would inevitably attract people who hated losing control over federal prosecutions to regular citizens from the community.

Our ancestors’ concerns and beliefs were well-founded. The fact that the president and the Pentagon have established an ideal “judicial” system in Cuba that denies the accused the right of trial by jury is powerful evidence that this is what federal officials would do here in the United States in the absence of a Bill of Rights, especially in drug cases. [...]

more at link